Photo: James by Adam Kennedy
On a beautiful summer’s evening in June I visited Newcastle’s Utilita Arena for the first time to witness Razorlight and James tear down the roof of this grand arena, and it was an evening to remember!
Razorlight’s powerful riffs and rolling drums brought an ecstatic atmosphere to the Utilita, amplified by their eager fans singing along to every lyric and rhythm. The band brought a wonderful performance filled with passion and energy, and it was a joy to watch them take the stage in such an honest and empowering way. The sight of a bouncing and beaming audience will never tire me, and Razorlight made it happen throughout their set. With hits such as ‘America’, ‘Somewhere Else’, and ‘Before I Fall To Pieces’ they truly brought the sun indoors.
From the moment James entered the stage there was no stopping the James-train, I couldn’t agree more with what was sighed behind me “what a way to start”. James is a band dedicated to their show with a singer I could barely keep up with despite being at least half his age. Before they’d even properly started their show, he’d already disappeared within the audience. Sadly it had to be mentioned multiple times that life should be experiences through eyes, not through phone cameras, however, this slightly older and stubborn audience was set on making sure their phone wouldn’t miss a memorable moment.
Despite the damper that slightly put on my night, the band brought a thunderous and positively outrageous performance. They brought their eager audience an impressive live show filled with driving drums, gorgeous vocals and vocal harmonies that are still ringing in my ears. With a singer that knew how to captivate his audience, a drummer that could hardly stop bouncing with energy and a choir of background vocals sounding like angels, this night was always headed towards being a successful one. The Manchester-based super group played all of their brilliant rock songs, with ‘She’s a Star’ opening the show, ‘Hey’, ‘Life’s A Fucking Miracle’, and ‘Better With You’ all on their set list. ‘Sit Down’ was always going to get an explosive reception and delivered what we all hoped it would.
If before last night I’d only been half on the James-train, I’m certainly completely on and not getting off now!
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